Compared to the iPad, almost all of them stink. Android tablets may boast impressive guts like zippy processors and LTE data speeds, but that gets ruined by Honeycomb's clunky interface and the extreme lack of good apps.

It doesn't help that so many of them feel like they were cobbled together without any regard for build quality or design. They're covered in cheap-feeling plastic. (Samsung is the biggest offender.) A lot of them are still as thick and heavy as the first iPad.

So I was really happy to open up the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime last week. The tablet is well-built. I mean, there's actually metal on this thing. And it's just as thin as the iPad 2 with the added bonus of some very useful ports.

Rad.

Build and design aside, the Transformer Prime is also important because it's the first tablet to use NVIDIA's Tegra 3 quad-core processor. You can bet many of next year's tablets will do the same, so this is a nice taste and shows the huge potential tablets have for gaming.

Finally, there's the optional laptop dock that turns your tablet into a netbook powered by Honeycomb. A lot of Android fans are going nuts over the dock. Personally, I'm not too hot on it for practical use. (But it is pretty cool.) Keep reading for the full review.

Beautiful Design

The Transformer Prime feels great to hold on to. It's light, sturdy as hell, and just screams quality. Asus outdid itself when it comes to the design. It's about time I get to say that for an Android device.

This is the first time I held an Android tablet and thought, "Wow, this feels good." According to the specs, the Transformer prime is a hair thinner than the iPad 2, but you won't notice. However, you will notice that Asus borrowed Apple's iPad design. It has the same tapered edges to make the device feel a shade thinner than it actually is.

Steve Kovach, Business InsiderTransformer Prime on the left, iPad 2 on the right.

Despite the thinness (8.3 mm, according to the spec sheet), Asus really wowed me by packing in some valuable ports too. There's a Micro SD card slot for side loading files and micro-HDMI out for mirroring movies and other goodies on your big screen TV. You'll get even more delicious ports when you attach the Transformer Prime to the laptop dock, but more on that later.

Powered By The First Quad-Core Processor In A Tablet

Now for the guts. The real story here is NVIDIA's new Tegra 3 quad-core processor. The Transformer Prime is the first tablet to use it, and it won't be long before everyone else follows suit.

It's fast.

You'll notice the benefits right away. Swiping between home screens and launching apps feels faster and smoother than any tablet I've ever used. Yes, that includes the iPad 2. Even better, I think the Transformer Prime is the first tablet that proves there's a whole new market for gaming on large touchscreen devices.

My Transformer Prime review unit came with a few games loaded on it. They look incredible and run just as smooth as any high-res computer or console game I've played. Even better, the tablet is compatible with several game controllers including Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, NintendoWii, and a bunch of other generics. If you have the laptop dock, that makes gaming a blast.

The downside: Most of the games are made by no-name studios and aren't on-par with the stuff coming to the iPad. I'm not exactly confident developers are tripping over themselves to bring Grand Theft Auto and Infinity Blade to Android just yet.

Asus included one of the best cameras I've seen in a tablet so far. I still don't see the point of taking photos or video with a 10-inch tablet (I cringe whenever I see someone do it in public. It looks silly.), but the Transformer Prime's camera is still excellent if you need to use it. It shoots photos at 8 MP and records 1080p HD video.

The results are pretty good for a tablet:

Steve Kovach, Business InsiderThis was taken with the Transformer Prime.

One of the biggest bragging points Asus makes about the Transformer Prime is its battery life. You'd expect a quad-core processor to really suck power. But it doesn't. Asus' official spec sheet says you can expect up to 12 hours of battery life with the tablet alone and up to 18 hours when connected to the dock. (The dock has its own battery.) As is always the case, you probably won't experience that kind of battery life. I was able to squeeze about 9 hours out of the battery with normal use.

Don't get me wrong, that's really, really good. It was more than enough to last me about two days based on how often I use a tablet.

Brilliant, Bright Screen

Asus calls the Transformer Prime's screen "Super IPS+." What does that mean? It's really, really bright. I love it. You can switch on Super IPS+ mode from the pop-up settings menu for a nice boost in brightness. It looks great, but still feels like a gimmick. I'd rather just slide the brightness all the way up then tap another button to make it happen.

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

So why include it? The Super IPS+ mode is supposed to help with outdoor use, so I took the Transformer Prime to the park to test that out. It definitely helps when the sun is shining, but it's hardly a revolution. It's all marketing.

Criticism aside, the display is really good. It's the Honeycomb-standard 10.1 inches, which is the best for watching movies. If you want to get down to the nitty gritty, the display resolution is 1280 X 800 and it's covered in sturdy Gorilla Glass. Thanks to the Tegra 3 processor, that means you can watch 720p HD video, so start torrenting.

The Dock

When the Transformer Prime started leaking out, Android fans went nuts over the optional $150 keyboard dock. I can see why. The accessory has the potential to replace your netbook or Ultrabook. But I think Asus has a few bugs to work out first.

The tablet portion snaps easily into the dock (you have to remove some rubbery pads at the bottom of the tablet first) and locks itself in. To release it, you just slide the lock beneath the screen.

Like the tablet itself, you can tell Asus spent a lot of time perfecting the design and build quality of the dock. It's made of the same heavy-duty metal, and it's packed with ports. There's USB for game controllers or a mouse, plus a full-sized SD card reader that makes a nice addition to the Micro SD card slot on the tablet. You also get some extra keys for controlling Honeycomb (Home, Menu, Unlock, etc.) It all fits nicely in a compact package.

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Based purely on feel, I'd much rather use the tablet/keyboard dock combo over a tiny underpowered netbook. I also love that you can get more than twice the battery life out of it than your average laptop.

The Transformer Prime immediately recognizes the keyboard when attached. Touching the mouse pad pulls up the cursor so you can click on everything instead of touching the screen. It has the same feel as using a laptop, but with a fresh OS. I like it.

It's not all good though. While Asus did include two-finger scrolling on the laptop dock's trackpad, there's a very noticeable lag when browsing through Websites. I got so frustrated with it that I ended up using the touchscreen to scroll around instead. This needs to be fixed. I also noticed a lag when typing, especially in the web browser. Again, it was often better to use touchscreen, which can get pretty awkward when the Transformer Prime is docked.

Same Old Honeycomb (But There's Hope)

If you've read my reviews of other Android tablets, you probably know I'm no fan of Honeycomb. I won't repeat all my gripes here, but just know you're in for an incomplete tablet experience. (Read: app selection) I'll give Google credit for adding more stability and fixing a lot of the most annoying bugs since version 3.0, but I'm not sad to see the OS replaced by Ice Cream Sandwich.

Asus did make a few noble attempts to improve Honeycomb though. I really like the Transformer Prime's pop-up settings menu that lets you quickly access functions like screen brightness, notifications, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. It's similar to the one found in Samsung's TouchWiz skin for Honeycomb, but has a much better and more serious design.

Asus also included some fresh-looking widgets. My favorite is called "MyZine," which shows your photos, e-mails, calendar events, current song, and even unread Amazon books in one place. I also liked that Asus gives you unlimited storage in its "MyCloud" app. It's okay, but definitely no Dropbox replacement.

Steve Kovach, Business Insider

Asus tried to improve the stock Honeycomb browser a bit. There's a nice scroll bar that appears when swiping across a page that makes it much easier to bounce back to the top. But other than that, the browser is slow, laggy, and doesn't always respond to zooming gestures and taps to open new links. You're better off downloading the Dolphin's excellent browser and using that instead.

Now for the good news: Asus promises Ice Cream Sandwich, which is designed for both tablets and smartphones, will be available as a free update on the Transformer Prime soon. I doubt this will fix all my gripes, but based on my early experience with ICS, it should definitely help.

Should You Buy It?

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime will cost you $499 for the 32 GB, Wi-Fi model. I wish there was a 16 GB option for $399, but no go. The laptop dock costs an extra $149.

Is it worth the price? I would've preferred Asus package the dock and tablet together at a discount. There's a lot of potential here to create a new type of tablet/laptop hybrid, and bundling the two together would help get more people to adopt it.

Personally, I found the dock more annoying than useful. I say go for the tablet, but skip the dock.